The Guam Environmental Protection Agency (Guam EPA), in partnership with the National Weather Service Forecast Office in Tiyan, will observe this week as National Air Quality Awareness Week.
"This is a time for our island to focus on air quality issues and how we can help keep our air clean," said Lorilee T. Cristostomo, administrator of Guam EPA. "Although Guam has some of the cleanest air in the world, from time to time we suffer from poor air quality. It is important for our island to understand how these conditions are created and how to respond."
Air Quality Awareness Week is a national program sponsored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Weather Service. The theme this year is "Be Air Aware."
One of the focuses of the week is examining the causes of air pollution.
The air quality on Guam is typically very good but can vary depending on wind and weather conditions. Guam's air tends to be affected by sulfurous gases. Sulfur dioxide is a gas that mixes with sunlight and other compounds to create hydrogen sulfide, sulfuric acid and particulates. This type of air pollution may smell like rotten eggs or have a pungent, acidic odor. It also produces a bluish haze.
There are two primary sources of sulfur dioxide in the Marianas. The most serious source is the Anatahan volcano that affects Guam when low-level winds blow from the north or north-northeast.
A second source of air pollution on Guam is from power plants. Winds usually carry emissions from the power plants west over the ocean. When there is the potential for offshore winds to carry the emissions over Guam, an administrative order from the U.S. EPA entitled "Cabras-Piti Area Intermittent Control Strategy" requires fuel to be switched from high sulfur fuel oil to low sulfur fuel oil. Low sulfur fuel oil has a sulfur content of less than 2.00 percent. Data from a meteorological tower aids the fuel switching protocol.
Guam also experiences particle air pollution from various sources. This type of air pollution can be generated by grass fires, cars or dust storms. This type of pollution varies with certain weather patterns. For instance, weather patterns in February this year brought dust and smoke particle pollution to Guam from Asia. Sunlight and heat also promote the formation of some of these particles. Winds from different directions can bring in particle pollution, sometimes from thousands of miles away and light winds with temperature inversions keep the pollution concentrated near the ground.
For more information about air quality on Guam contact Guam EPA's Public Information Officer Tammy Anderson at 475-1663 or National Weather Service Warning Coordination Meteorologist on Guam Chip Guard at 472-0946.
For more information about national Air Quality Awareness Week click here.
